Apparatus for handling coils of strip material



APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF STRIP MATERIAL Filed oct. 5, 1957 J. OBRIEN July 4, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet l INg/ENTOR. JEREMIAH 14 0 BRIEA/ ZOE-(uh BYWKW 171s ATTORNEY .1. w. OBRIEN 2,99l,23

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF STRIP MATERIAL July 4, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 3, 1957 JEREMIAH M42 0 BRIEN H15 ATTORNEY APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF STRIP MATERIAL Filed Oct. 5, 1957 J. W. OBRIEN July 4, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 M 0m m ZOEHPm iiinl' in! ml INVENTOR 9 JEREMIA PM 0 RIEN BY Z 1s ATTORNEY July 4, 1961 .1. w. O'BRIEN 2,991,023

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF STRIP MATERIAL Filed Oct. 3, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 STATION-B STATION-B II;JVENTOR. JEREMIAH I4. 0 BBIEN HID ATTORNEY y 4, 1961 J. w. O'BRIEN 2,991,023

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF STRIP MATERIAL Filed Oct. 5, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVIgNTOR. JEREMIAH W QBRIEN Hm A :r TORNEY United States Patent G 2,991,023 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS F STRIP MATERIAL Jeremiah W. OBrien, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to United Engineering and Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.,

a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. '3, 1957, Ser. No. 688,087 9 Claims. (Cl. 242-79) This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for handling coils of strip material and is particularly adaptable for use in connection with the uncoiling. and feeding of a plurality of coils to strip processing apparatus such as a rolling mill, for example, where continuity of operation is desired.

For economy of operation, rolled metallic strips are normally coiled after each processing step involved in the operation, thereby giving use to the requirement of apparatus for uncoiling and coiling the coils at the entry and delivery ends respectively of the apparatus. The delay between the time of completion of the uncoiling of one coil and the starting of a second coil through the apparatus represents non-productive time for the entire processing apparatus so that if this time can be minimized or even eliminated, considerable savings will result. Various methods as well as new types of apparatus have, at intervals, been suggested and even employed for cutting down the aforementioned time loss, but the results have not been very satisfactory. However, there are certain conditions in the processing of rolled metallic strip material where the known types of coil uncoiling arrangements fail to satisfactorily perform. For example, in the handling, positioning, preparing and feeding of coils of aluminum, aluminum alloys and certain steel alloys, it is a requirement that extreme care be exercised to prevent scratching or marking of the metal. Then, too, coils made up of materials having high yield points are characterized by high elastic stresses so that should coils not be properly banded after they are coiled, the coil may spring open with great force and inadvertently become uncoiled and possibly cause injury to the workmen. In addition, sliding of one convolution over the surface of adjacent ones will also cause considerable scratching. When coils having high elastic stress characteristics are to be positioned, prepared and uncoiled, requiring the removal of the bands to perform these operations, the coils must be held in such a manner at the time the band is removed and the leading end fed into the apparatus so they will not spring open and become unwieldly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for positioning and preparing coils in such a manner prior to their being uncoiled and passed through processing apparatus, that a very minimum amount of time is expended for feeding the leading end of a coil into the apparatus following the trailing end of the previous coil.

It is another object of this invention to provide for the continuous positioning, preparing and uncoiling of a plurality of coils and positively transporting them to processing apparatus thereby to avoid damage to the coils, in particular, the outer surface thereof.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for continuously uncoiling a plurality of coils which are under high inherent elastic stresses whereby the coils are restrained at all times during the preparing, transferring and feeding operations in order to prevent the accidental uncoiling thereof.

It is another object of the present invention to provide three operatively associated stations through which a plurality of coils are continuously conveyed for positioning, preparing and uncoiling in one station of which a first coil is in the process of being uncoiled and passed through processing apparatus, in the second station of which a second coil is held in readiness for uncoiling and passing through the apparatus and in the third station of which a coil is in the process of being prepared for uncoiling.

It is another object of this invention to provide a first coil engaging station, wherein the convolutions of the coil are maintained tightly pressed against one another while the coil leading end is unwrapped from the coil, a second coil engaging station into which a coil prepared at the first station is placed in readiness for feeding into a third station and a third station in which a coil is received from the second station, rotatably supported at its ends, the leading end thereof fed into strip processing apparatus and engaged thereby and the coil uncoiled under tension.

These objects as well as the various other novel features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the preferred form of apparatus embodying the features of the invention herein disclosed;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the center of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan View of the coil downender and associated apparatus shown to the right of FIG. 1;

IFIG. 4 is a front elevational View of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged end elevational View of one half of the coil elevating apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is an end elevation view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 or a rear elevational view of one half of the coil elevating apparatus shown in FIGS. l and 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged end elevational view of the roller assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 8 is an end elevational view of the roller assembly shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged front elevational view of the coil engaging and transfer means shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 10 is a cut away section taken inward of FIG. 9, and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged front elevational view of the levelling and shearing units shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated therein the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed for a coil positioning, preparing and uncoiling system for use in continuously feeding and processing coils of strip material by passing through a rolling mill M as shown in outline form. It will be obwins to one skilled in the art that although a rolling mill is shown, the present invention may just as readily be adapted for use in connection with other strip processing apparatus such as that for pickling, shearing, annealing and the like. The coil handling arrangement includes in its preferred form three operatively associated stations designated generally as Stations A, B and C, located on the entry side of the mill and adapted to perform in sequence a series of operations upon a plurality of coils prior to the feeding thereof to the mill M. For convenience, the stations will be discussed separately from right to left as they appear in the drawings FIGS. 1 and 2.

Station A The coils in banded form are brought from. a previous strip processing apparatus, not shown, and by means of a crane or the like placed in Station A, designated as the coil positioning station. As shown, the banded coil is brought to Station A with its opening extending vertical- FIG. 2 'two coils of different sizes are shown in phantom as being supported by the downender 11 having their respective axes 1 and 2 extending in a vertical direction. The long side of the downender is constructed in the form of two prongs 11a so that when the downender is rotated on actuation of a piston cylinder assembly 12 connected thereto by link 13, the prongs which when in their horizontal position are adapted to support the coil, will pass between and transfer the coil to the platform 14 of a coil manipulator car 15 arrangedon the mill side of the downender and adapted to rotate and transfer a coil from Stations A to B. p

The car 15, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is mounted on two pairs of wheels 16 which rest on tracks 17 arranged between Stations A and B, the car being moved between these two stations by a piston cylinder assembly 19 connected thereto. It will be observed that the opening of a coil as represented by the axis 1 of the coil, when transferred from the downender 11 to the car 15 will be horizontal so that, if the leading end should then be uncoiled, it will extend in a direction at right angles to the mill pass line. In order to orient the coil in proper position for stripping the end therefrom so that it will extend in the proper direction with respect to the mill, the coil is adapted to be rotated 90 in either a clockwise or counter clockwise direction. To accomplish this, the platform 14 of the car 15 is rotatable relative to the main frame of the car. The platformis secured to a vertical shaft 18 having a pinion 20 at its lower end in mesh with a gear segment 21. The gear segment 21 is rigidly secured to one side of a rotatable cam bracket 22 which has on its opposite side a downwardly projecting arm to which a cam roller 23 is rotatably secured. The cam roller is adapted to slide into a guiding channel 24 arranged beneath the car 15 and midway between the wheels, the channel extending in the direction of Station B. The end of the channel terminates in a switch 25, as best shown in FIG. 3, the switch having two separate channels 26 and 27, the ends adjacent the channel 24 being in close side-by-side relationship and being curved away from one another for a portion of their lengths, the amount of curvature being calculated to give the platform 14 a rotation of 90. The switch 25 is by means of a bell crank and linkage arrangement secured to a piston cylinder assembly 28 connected at its inner end and is so mounted that depending upon the direction in which the piston cylinder assembly is actuated the channel 24 will register with one or the other of the two channels 26 and 27. The channels 26 and 27 are sufficiently long to insure that the cam roller will always be confined in the channels on the movement of the car 15 from Station A to Station B. The switch 25 will first be placed in its proper position depending upon the position of a coil on the car 15 before the car 15 is moved forward so that a coil carried thereby will be automatically rotated 90 in the proper direction. In FIG. 3, the progressive rotation of a coil is illustrated in dot and dash lines. In the case illustrated, the convolutions of the coil when uncoiled will be in a direction inward so that the switch 25 will be positioned to connect channels 24 and 26 in order to rotate the coil in a direction to so position the coil that when it is uncoiled, its leading end will extend from the top of the coil and in the direction of the mill M.

Station B As best shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, Station B or what may be referred to as the coil preparing station consists of three separate but operatively associated machines, referred to hereinafter as the coil elevating, coil rotating and the coil leading end levelling and shearing units respectively. The coil elevator unit 29 is best illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 and since it is symmetrical about its center line, only a portion thereof has been shown. The ele;

vator is made up of an inverted U-shaped frame 30 transversely arranged with respect to the travel of the coils so that a coil brought from Station A may be positioned under the U-shaped frame. Two similar elevator sliding supports 31 are carried by the transverse portion of the frame and include vertical guiding surfaces for receiving upright members 32 having opposed freely rotatable cones 33 secured at their lower most ends. The supports are moved toward and away from each other by individual piston cylinder assemblies 34 mounted on the frame 30. A separate rack 35 is secured to each of the supports 31 and a pinion 36 in mesh therewith is rotatably affixed to the frame 30 and serves as an equalizing mechanism to assure simultaneous and equal movement of the cones 33. The upright members 32 are connected to individual piston cylinder assemblies 37 secured to the upper ends of the upright members for raising and lowering the cones 33. The members 32 are also tied together by an equalizing mechanism consisting of an elongated shaft 38 upon 'which a pinion 39 is slidably mounted at each end and a rack 41 secured to the upright member 32 and with which the pinion 39 meshes.

Also supported by the transverse portion of the elevator frame, there is a coil rotating roller assembly 42, the construction of which can be best seen in referring to FIGS. 7 and 8. The roller assembly comprises a pair of brackets 43, the upper ends of which are secured to the transverse portion of the elevator frame 30 at two spaced points. At the lower ends of the brackets there is pivotally connected thereto a horizontally extending arm 44 to which a pressure roller 45 is rotatably secured. The roller is driven in a clockwise direction by a slow speed motor secured to one end of the shaft. A spring assembly 46 is operatively secured to the roller for permitting the roller to deflect upward a slight amount when a coil is first brought into engagement therewith. There is a piston cylinder assembly 47 also connected to the roller by a bell crank and linkage 48 for raising the roller to an inoperative position.

Arranged closely adjacent to the elevator 29 and the roller assembly 42 there is a leveller and shear assembly 49, the levelling and shearing elements 51 and 52 respectively being situated in the same horizontal plane tangent to the under surface of the roller 45 when in its operative position. The levelling and shearing assembly is mounted in a common frame 53, as best shown in FIG. 11, having two pairs of wheels 54 which rest upon and roll along tracks 55. The tracks 55 are positioned at right angles to and above the tracks 17 of the transfer car 15 and their inner ends terminate at a point closely adjacent thereto so that the levelling and shearing assembly overhangs the tracks 17.

The shear and the leveller are, together with the frame 53, of open end construction, and, following a levelling and shearing operation upon the leading end of strip uncoiled from a coil,'may be quickly moved transversely with respect to the pass line of the strip by means of a piston cylinder assembly 56 connected to the frame 53. The leveller consists of bottom driven rolls 57 and upper idle rolls 58 which are vertically adjustable by means of a motor operated jack screw arrangement 59. The top rolls are movable as a unit a substantial distance away from the strip by means of two piston cylinder assemblies 61 connected thereto. This additional movement, however, does not disturb the adjustment in the frame provided by the jack screws 59. There is an upper roll 62 at the entry end of the leveller which serves as a pinch roll, together with the lower first leveller roll 57, and which may be raised and lowered independently of the other leveller rolls 58 by actuation of piston cylinder assemblies 63 connected thereto by a bell crank 64 and link 65. A combination stripper and guide 66 is mounted on the entry side of the leveller unit and extends toward the roller 45, a piston cylinder assembly 67 being connected to the stripper element and adapted to place the stripper in close proximity to a coil supported by the cones 33 when in engagement with the roller 45. The piston cylinder assembly :67 is, of course, employed for retracting the stripper element in a direction toward the leveller unit when the leveller and shear are to be retracted transversely away from the pass line.

After a .coil has been prepared at Station B, the coil is then in readiness for transfer to Station C which is accomplished by means of a second transfer car 68. As best illustrated in FIG. 9, the main frame portion 69 of the car is supported on two pairs of wheels 71 which rest upon tracks 17 arranged between Stations B and C and which are as shown on FIG. 2 of the drawings. A piston cylinder assembly 72 is connected to the car main frame 69 and is of sufficient stroke to move the car from Station B into Station C. The main frame 69 acts as a support or carrying three separate secondary vertical movable frames. The first secondary frame 73 is vertically slidable in the main frame 69 and has secured to it a piston cylinder assembly 74 of which the cylinder is rigidly secured to a second secondary frame 75 and the piston connected to the frame 73. When in its lowest position, the second secondary frame 75 rests upon a platform section 76, secured to the main frame 69, and is slida-ble within frame 69 and adapted to be raised oif the platform 76 on vertical movement of a third secondary frame 77. The third secondary frame 77 is connected to a piston cylinder assembly 78, the cylinder of which is secured to the main frame 69. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the first secondary frame 73 is received within the second secondary frame 75 when in its lower most position and on operation .of-the piston cylinder assembly 74 is raised to engage and support a coil carried bythe cones 33 of the elevator 29. When in this position, the second secondary frame 75. is resting on the platform portion 76 of the main frame 69 and the fluid in the piston cylinder assembly 74 is locked to prevent the first secondary frame from lowering and moving relative to the second secondary frame 75. The frame 73 carries a V-shaped coil-supporting platform 79 and two pairs of rollers 80 mounted in the frame in spaced relationship to each other and to a third pair of rollers 81 which are mounted on the end of a piston rod, extending from a constant pressure piston cylinder assembly 82 supported by the main frame 69.. The rollers 81 are movable relative to the rollers 80 so that belts 83, passed around the rollers and secured at their ends to two pairs of parallel arms 84 and 85, are maintained taut at all times. The arms 84 and 85 are arcuate or cresent shaped and are pivotally secured to the opposite sides of the second secondary frame 75, being pivotally movable upward by means of linkage 86 which is connected to the frame 75 and to the third secondary frame 77 The curvature of the arms is such that, when the arms are pivoted upward, the outer ends only will make point contact with a ,coil regardless of coil diameter, the diameter, of course, being within the maximum and minimum established for the device, while the belts 83 will encircle a substantial portion of the periphery of the coil. As shown in FIG. 9, there are opposed side members 7711 forming part of the frame 77 upon which the other platforms are carried when the frame 77 is moved upward to raise the other secondary frames. When the arms are brought into their raised position, the belts 83, as shown in FIG. 9, encircle approximately 75% of the periphery of the coil, thus firmly engaging a tightly wrapped coil to prevent the wraps of the coil from springing outward and inadvertently uncoiling, especially where the coil is formed of a metal having very high elastic properties. The arm 85 is made substantially longer than the arm 84 so that the outer end thereof will engage the coil at the top and hold the partially uncoiled front end of the coil in a substantially horizontal plane. Irrespective of diameter of coil being engaged, the arms 84 and 85 are so arrangedand operated that the ends of the arms will take somewhat the same position with respect to the coil when they are raised to their upper position. When the smallest diameter coil is being processed, for example, the outer ends of the arms will come in contact with the coil at approximately the same time, whereas when larger diameter coils are being processed, the shorter arm 84 will first make contact and then the arm will continue to swing upward and finally into contact with the coil. In order to avoid a build-up of pressure between the arms 84 and the coil after initial contact with the coil has been made, the ends of lever 86 of the linkage system for the arms 84 are pivotally secured to blocks 87 which are slidably mounted in the second secondary frame 75. The blocks 87 are engaged by adjustable compression springs 88 which serve to resist the movement of the blocks, but which yield when the pressure increases after the end of the arm 84 contacts a coil of diameter greater than the minimum size. Once the arms 84 and 85 are in their coilengaging positions, the piston cylinder assembly 74 is locked so as to maintain the pressure therein and to maintain the belts in engagement with coil when the transfer car 68 is moved to Station C. The leveller and shear unit is now retracted out of line with the mill or processing equipment in order to permit the transfer car to proceed to Station C.

Station "C" The transfer car 68 with a coil mounted thereon is brought from Station B to Station C. Station C includes an uncoiler 89 with a pair of motor-driven, coil-engaging and rotating cones 89a which are adapted to be moved laterally so that the car 68 with a coil thereon will have suflicient clearance to be positioned between the cones, after which the cones are moved toward each other and into engagement with the coil at its open ends. In the particular arrangement shown, since the axis of the coil when in Station B will be below the elevation with the axes of the cones 89 of the uncoiler, it will be necessary to vertically adjust the transfer car 68 upward when the coil is brought to Station C. The coil when in Station C is first raised to align the axis thereof with the axes of the uncoiler cones 89 and this is accomplished by again actuating the piston cylinder assembly 78 of the transfer car 68 for the second time which will cause the third secondary frame 77 to come into engagement with the second secondary frame 75 which, in turn, will raise the first secondary frame 73 and thus raise the coil to the desired vertical position. In the second phase of operation of the piston cylinder assembly 78, whether to engage a small diameter coil in the first instance or to raise a larger diameter coil into the cone-engaging position in Station C, a spring 91 intermediate a loose connection member 92 and the second secondary frame plays a very important part as will be defined in the description of the operation of the various devices as they are employed for handling, transferring and uncoiling coils in sequence for processing.

Operation of the present invention may be briefly summarized as follows. A tightly wrapped coil of a material having high elastic properties with one or more metal bands tightly wrapped around its periphery, to prevent the coil from inadvertently springing outward and uncoiling, is brought to Station A and placed on the downender 11 with its central axis 1 extending in a vertical direction, the downender having been previously positioned so that the prongs thereof project upward as shown in FIG. 1. The downender is then rotated on actuation of the piston cylinder assembly 12 thereby swinging the prongs downward to pass between the rotatable platform 14 of the transfer car 15, as indicated in FIG. 4, so that the coil is placed on the car with the central opening or axis 1 extending in a horizontal direction. The car is then moved toward Station B, by actuation of the piston cylinder assembly 19 and by reason of the cam track arrangement provided therefor,

' 7 the coil is automatically rotated 90- about the vertical axis of the car. The required direction of rotation, dependent upon how the coil is positioned with respect to the coil convolutions, is accomplished by throwing the switch 25 into one of its two positions to direct the car along the proper cam track. The coil, of course, is so rotated that in its final position its leading end will uncoil from the top of the coil and extend in the direction of Station B. The transfer car 15 conveys the coil to Station B where the cones 33 of the coil elevator 29 engage the coil at its opposite ends and lift it from the car and into contact with the driven roller 45 previously lowered into its operative position. Following this operation, the transfer car 15 is then returned to Station A.

The coil is now held between the cones and in engagement with the pressure roller 45 so that the coil wraps are prevented from springing outward when the bands are removed. As soon as the bands are removed from the coil, the coil is rotated by rotating the driven roller 45 until a sufficient length of the strip leading end has been stripped from the coil by the stripper guide element 66 and directed into the leveller for flattening and a portion of the end passed through the shear for cropping. As the strip leading end is uncoiled, the pinch rolls 57 and 62 first engage the strip and assist in feeding the strip forward. At this point, the convolutions of the coil are prevented from springing outward by the leveller, the pinch rolls 57 and 62 and the roller 45. Sulficient clearance being provided beneath the leveller and shear, the empty coil transfer car 68 is then brought into position beneath the coil held between the cones 33 of the elevator 29. While the roller 45 is still in engagement with the coil, the leveller and shear can remain in the position shown in FIG. 2 until the arms 84 and 85 of the car 68 are pivoted upward to cause the belts 83 secured thereto to embrace a coil about a substantial portion of its periphery and the platform 79 moved upward to engage the coil from beneath or the leveller and shear can be disengaged from the strip and moved transversely out of the path of travel of the strip to free the strip end prior to engagement by the belts 83. The pressure roller 45 is now moved upward and the transfer car 68, with a coil supported thereon and the coil convolutions tightly pressed against the coil, moved from Station B to the uncoiler at Station C.

At Station C, if the coil is of a diameter other than of a maximum size coil, the coil is raised to register the central axis thereof with the centers of the uncoiler cones 89a, and the uncoiler cones moved inward to engage the coil at its ends. As the coil is moved upward into alignment with the uncoiler cones, the loose connection member 92 is engaged by the platform 77a of frame 77 causing the spring 91 to be compressed sutficiently to permit the frame 77 to make contact with the frame 75 so that on further upward movement of the frame 77 both frames 75 and 73 together with the coil supported on the platform 79 will all move upward together. Since the leading end stripped from the coil is of suflicient length, it will extend a sufiicient distance forward to pass between the bridle rolls in frontof the mill or even into the mill itself when the coil is transferred from the car 68 to the uncoiler 89.

As soon as the coil has been transferred to the uncoiler 89, the piston cylinder assembly 78 is actuated for the purpose of swinging the arms 84 and 85 and belts 83 out of engagement with the coil and to lower the frame assembly. Due to the stilfness of the spring 91, on movement of frame 77 downward, the frames 73 and 75 are maintained in their upward position even though the spring is expanding, thereby causing the arms 84 and 85 and belts 83 to be moved outward immediately free of the coil so that when the frames 73, 75 and 77 are lowered as a unit, which occurs when the spring 91 has expanded sufliciently to permit it, the ends of the arms 84 and 85 will not drag along and mark the surface of the coil.

It is to be noted that efliciency and continuity of operation is accomplished, for when the transfer car 68 moves out of Station B toward Station C, a second coil already placed on the transfer car 15 has been brought into Station B where the leading end thereof is prepared for subsequent feeding into the processing apparatus. The transfer car 68, once it has delivered the first coil to Station C, may then return to Station B and remove a prepared coil therefrom and hold it in readiness intermediate the two Stations B and C until uncoiling of the first coil at Station C has been completed. Thus a plurality of coils may be in various stages of preparation for continuous feeding to the processing apparatus. In addition, by employing the combination of apparatus disclosed, not only are coils supported at all times to prevent inadvertent springing away of the convolutions thereof, but marking of the strip and damage to the coils are also avoided since the coils are handled carefully at the various stages to prevent rubbing of one wrap of the coil against another wrap which happens when a coil springs open or becomes loosely wound due to partial opening.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for handling, transferring, preparing and uncoiling strip material for feeding continuously into a strip processing line comprising a coil downender upon which a coil is deposited with the central axis thereof extending in a vertical direction, a coil manipulator adjacent to said downender, means for actuating said downender to place a coil upon said manipulator with the central axis thereof extending substantially in a horizontal direction, means for rotating said manipulator for placing the axis of said coil in a plane at right angles to the plane of travel of strip when being processed, a coil elevator, means for moving said manipulator with a coil positioned thereon to a position adjacent to said coil elevator, oppositely disposed cones secured to said elevator and adapted to be moved into engagement with the ends of said coil, a driven roll rotatably supported on said elevator, means for raising said cones with a coil secured therebetween to engage the said coil with said driven roll, a leveller for flattening the leading end of said strip, a shear for cropping a portion of the leading end from said strip, a guide intermediate said roll and said leveller adapted to engage with the leading end of said coil on rotation of said coil thereby to strip the leading end therefrom and to direct it into said leveller and shear, means secured to and for moving said leveller and shear in a transverse direction relative to said strip to provide clearance for moving said coil forward, a transfer car, a plurality of arcuate arms pivotally secured to said car, means for actuating said arms to embrace a substantial peripheral surface of said coil, a vertically movable platform for raising said coil while thus embraced by said arms, a coil uncoiler having a pair of cones movable transversely with respect to one another for engaging a coil therebetween, means for moving said transfer car adjacent to said uncoiler thereby to position said coil between said cones for engagement thereby, and means for permitting said arms to be pivoted outward and out of engagement with said coil prior to lowering of said platform to free a coil supported thereby. I

2. Apparatus for handling, transferring and uncoiling in succession a plurality of coils of strip material for feeding into strip processing apparatus comprising the combination of a coil downender, a manipulator upon which a coil is received with the central axis thereof in a horizontal plane, a track for supporting said manipulator, a cam and cam follower operatively arranged between said track and said manipulator, means for moving said manipulator along said track thereby to actuate said cam and cam follower to cause a coil supported upon said manipulator to be so positioned that the central axis thereof will be contained in a plane perpendicular to the plane of travel of the strip being processed, a coil end engaging elevator adjacent to said manipulator and adapted to receive coils from said manipulator, a driven roller secured to said elevator adapted to be engaged with the surface of a coil transferred from said manipulator to said elevator, a strip leveller, a guide intermediate said leveller and said driven roller arranged to engage with and strip the leading end of a coil rotated by said roller and to direct the end into said leveller for flattening, means secured to and for disengaging said leveller from the strip leading end following a flattening levelling operation and means for moving said leveller in a transverse direction and out of the path of travel of said strip, a coil transfer car adjacent to said elevator, a pair of curved arms pivotally secured to said car, means secured to and for moving said arms toward one another for embracing and removing a coil from said elevator, an uncoiler having a pair of transversely operable cones for engaging a coil therebetween, means for moving said car into a position adjacent to and for delivering a coil to said uncoiler, means for moving said transfer car downward away from a coil delivered to said uncoiler and means permitting said arms to be pivoted outward away from said coil prior to the lowering thereof with said car.

3. Apparatus for handling, transferring and uncoiling in succession a plurality of coils according to claim 2 in which a shear is provided adjacent to said leveller for cropping the end of the flattened portion of the strip.

4. Apparatus for embracing a coil of strip material to prevent the wraps of said coil from springing outward comprising a frame, a pair of arcuate lever arms operatively arranged adjacent to said frame, a flexible belt secured at its ends to the outer free end of each of said arms and passing from one to the other as a chord of the arc defined by each of said arms, yieldable means intermediate said arms in engagement with and adapted to maintain said belt taut, means for pivoting said arms toward one another and above said frame thereby to cause said belt to contact and embrace said coil about a substantial area of its periphery.

5. Apparatus for embracing a coil of strip material according to claim 4 including means for elevating said frame and said arms operatively connected thereto to position said arms for embracing coils of varying diameters.

6. Apparatus for embracing a coil of strip material according to claim 4 in which said means for pivoting said arms comprises a plurality of links connected thereto, and means connected to and for actuating said links.

7. Apparatus for embracing a coil of strip material according to claim 4 including means for moving said platform and said arms vertically and additional means for moving them in a horizontal direction.

8. Apparatus for embracing a coil of strip material to prevent the wraps thereof from springing outward for use in transferring coils from one station to another in a strip processing line wherein coils are handled, transferred and uncoiled in succession, said apparatus comprising a transfer car, means attached to and for moving said car in a longitudinal direction, a first frame slidably mounted within said car, a platform secured to said frame, a cylinder, a second frame slidably mounted within said car, means for securing said cylinder to said second frame, a piston within said cylinder and secured to said first frame adapted to move said frame and said platform in a vertical direction relative to said car and said second frame, a pair of arcuate arms pivotally connected at their inner ends to said second frame, a third frame slidably mounted within said car, links connected to said arms and to said third mentioned frame, means connected to and for moving said third frame vertically with respect to said car, yieldable means intermediate said second and third frames and adapted to be engaged between said frames on upward movement of said third frame, a flexible member secured to the outer ends of said arms and extending from one arm to the other as a chord subtending the apes defined by each arm, and means secured to said third mentioned frame and said car for moving said third frame relative to said second frame in a vertical direction to cause said arms to pivot toward one another and to cause said flexible member to embrace a coil about a portion of its circumference, and for the remainder of its travel upward to engage with and overcome the resistance offered by said yieldable means thereby to permit the outer ends of said arms to engage with said coil and said flexible member to embrace said coil about an additional portion of its circumference.

9. Apparatus for embracing a coil of strip material to prevent the wraps thereof from springing outward for use in transferring coils from one station to another station in a strip processing line wherein coils are handled, transferred and uncoiled in succession, said apparatus comprising a transfer car, means secured to and for moving said car in a longitudinal direction, a frame mounted upon and vertically movable relative to said car, a platform operatively connected to said frame, a pair of arcuate lever arms pivotally connected to said frame, means connected to and for moving said platform in a vertical direction relative to said frame and means connected to and for pivoting said arms toward one another thereby to embrace a coil positioned therebetween over a substantial portion of the peripheral surface thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 712,300 Huston Oct. 28, 1902 2,092,539 Talbot Sept. 7, 1937 2,256,975 Eddy Sept. 23, 1941 2,262,118 Sieger NOV. 11, 1941 2,321,878 Tyrrell June 15, 1943 2,324,855 Lane July 20, 1943 2,389,443 Lyle Nov. 20, 1945 2,525,254 Appleby Oct. 10, 1950 2,708,078 Shakely May 10, 1955 2,756,943 Sieger July 31, 1956 2,762,418 Smith Sept. I l, 1956 2,767,933 Spears Oct. 23, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 728,087 Germany Nov. 21, 1942 1,108,505 France Aug. 31, 1955 

